Under Alien Skies

A Sightseer's Guide to the Universe

By: Phil Plait

Narrated by: Phil Plait

A rip-roaring tour of the cosmos with the Bad Astronomer, revealing the sky as never seen before―from everywhere but Earth.

How would Saturn’s rings look from a spaceship sailing just above them? If you were falling into a black hole, what’s the last thing you’d see before your spaghettification? What would it be like to visit the faraway places we currently experience only through high-powered telescopes and robotic emissaries? Faster-than-light travel may never be invented, but we can still take the scenic route through the universe with renowned astronomer and science communicator Philip Plait.

On this lively, immersive adventure through the cosmos, Plait draws ingeniously on the latest scientific research to transport listeners to ten spectacular sites, from our own familiar Moon to the outer reaches of our solar system and far beyond. Whether strolling through a dust storm under Mars’ butterscotch sky, witnessing the birth of a star, or getting dizzy in a technicolor nebula, Plait is an illuminating, entertaining guide to the most otherworldly views in our universe.

©2023 Philip Plait PhD (P)2023 Spotify Audiobooks

Phil Plait gives a stellar performance

This book is everything I needed it to be and more - an adventure across the solar system and the universe beyond, an irreverent and insightful look at the wonders of the cosmos, and a wonderfully written and read bit of science communication. I highly recommend it to anyone and everyone who loves space!

Knowledge + Passion + Creativity = Tour de Force

“Under Alien Skies” is stunning! I thought this would be interesting. I had no idea that I would learn something nearly every sentence. But the best part was how much I enjoyed it.
When you add the author’s enthusiasm, warmth, and easy tone to his mastery of the material, the audiobook transforms into more of a friendly conversation with a brilliant, but also charismatic, astronomer than many of the space books that I have heard, but failed to comprehend.

If you read sci-fi for the world building

Then this is the book for you!
Interesting topics and random facts, told like little stories

Awesome book

This turned out to be one of those books that I just couldn't put down. I had planned to listen to it over the next few weeks. I ended up finishing the whole thing over a single weekend.

Vivid, informative, eye-opening

An up-close view of exotic destinations that we will not see in person in our lifetimes.

Excellent!

Phil's book is laid out like a travelogue, taking readers on journeys to far away and inaccessible vistas. He is the perfect tour guide, describing all of the sights and what they mean. In this way, he sneakily informs the reader about the newest discoveries in astronomy and planetary science. This book was a joy to read, and made the path to learning new things about the universe a fun and amazing journey. Highly recommended!

Vivid scene setting all across the universe

Plait describes what it looks like to be here, there, any every where in the universe like a cosmic Roy Kent. He overuses words like "maw" and "agape" but this is excusable due to the (literally) awesome subject.

By far the best line of the book comes last: "We will never run out of alien skies to understand. And, perhaps one day, to stand under."

Just what I've been waiting for

So much fun! And so well explained! It's going to be hard to top this book.

Great book—weird skips on audio

The info is great and a lovely trip through the solar system. But there are really weird artifacts on the Audi that make it annoying sometimes to listen to.

The latest astronomical discoveries made simple

I love learning about the planets, our solar system and all things celestial. However I don't have much of a scientific background and I find many of the books covering these subjects to be way over my head in scientific jargon and thinking, leaving me in the dust after the first two or three chapters. Not so with "Under Alien Skies." It's written in such a way that deep concepts are made easily understandable and quite clear. The author uses a pseudo sci-fi format to project the listener into scenarios in which particular ideas or the latest discoveries are dealt with with simplicity and which are clearly explained in everyday English. The listener is projected to be a visitor, a space traveler, to a particular realm. Beginning with the moon, then moving on to the planets and the solar system and expanding to more and more exotic and distant spheres of the universe, including the birthing grounds of stars, and eventually visiting the not-so-near environs of a black hole. It's a unique way, and for me a very effective way, of presenting dense material in a lighthearted method that is probably easily understandable by almost any listener. I thoroughly enjoyed the book and learned a great deal of new information about the workings of our greater environment, all based on the latest findings of the vast scientific community working on expanding mankind's knowledge of the worlds around us.